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HCH-2 answers needed before purchase

Created August 12, 2007, at 3:03 pm by sfiler

I would really like to buy a 2007 Civic hybrid but after seeing three dealers, who did not seem to be well versed about the car, I am still looking for answers to some deal maker or breaker questions.

1. After reading a battery warranty booklet, saw that the warranty is not 8/80,000 at 100% coverage but drops over 50% after 3/36,000 limit. No dealer mentioned this or could tell us the 100% out of pocket replacement cost in present time dollars. None had replaced a battery even in older models. Battery cost may go down but I at least want a ballpark figure. Is there an extended warranty for just the battery at time of purchase, how much and is it also limited in percentage covered?

2. Any problems claiming the $2100 credit, other than posts I've read about AMT? I'm assuming the credit is a dollar for dollar reduction in taxes owed?

3. How negotiable is price? I noticed a bigger difference between invoice and MSRP on the hybrid versus the non-hybrids.

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nark
Junior Member

4 years ago

good questions. So let me try and answer them and hopefully someone with more knowledge and experience can correct me if I am wrong.

1) See here for warranty info:

http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-hybrid/warranty.aspx

"Its IMA battery pack comes with an 8-year/80,000-mile warranty, or a 10-year/150,000-mile warranty in CA,CT, MA, ME, NY or VT"

The warranty is for full coverage. If any of the IMA parts fail within that timeframe, honda will replace them for free with no out of pocket for you. I would recommend BUYING the car in either of the above states as the warratny is 10 years/150 k miles despite your location and car registration.

2) From what I heard, no problem as long as you dont need to pay AMT. If you do, then its the difference.

3) Yes. This depends on several factors including but not limited to: availability, demand, gas price, your ability to negotiate and the dealer's willingness to consider negotiations.

FYI, I got my civic hybrid with the nav and the tinted mirror for ~22,700. Without the mirror for ~22,410. So as you see, I got wayyyy below MSRP and quite a bit below invoice. Out the door for me was 25k which is what roughly the MSRP is for the car. Its probably a lot easier to negotiate in California since the supply is pretty high.

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sfiler
Junior Member

4 years ago

Thanks Nark for the info regarding the 10/150,000 k warranty. We in PA and would consider out of state purchase but then we would lose the $500 PA rebate. We went to a local dealer and looked at the Operating Manual in the back under warranties and the battery warranty was an 8/80,000 k limited warranty. After the 3/36,000 mile IMA battery warranty at 100%, the 4th year coverage dropped to only 60% and each year Honda paid less of the battery cost until after 8 years it was down to 5%. The dealer insisted it was full 100% battery coverage for 8yrs/80,00 miles until we showed him the Operating Manual and then he said he would check about the warranty but since no one had replaced a battery on the hybrids this dealership had sold, we were told not to worry because the battery will last much longer than 80,000 miles. I always worry when a salesman tells me not to worry! This is the main issue I'm still not sure about. Thanks for your help.

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